


Summer Breeze

by driftinganima



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 15:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6615289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driftinganima/pseuds/driftinganima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata gasped, and as soon as she realized the flash of blond hair, her cheeks instantly flushed red, and the clipboard slipped from her arm and clattered on the floor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Konoha Gakuen AU (Chuugakuen/Junior Highschool).

The hallway basked in the late noon’s sunlight, while the opened windows made way for the early summer wind to breeze within the walls of Konoha Chuugakuen.

Some students ran to and fro the length of the hallway, and some of them stayed in front of the windows or classroom doors, either slurping the remaining juice from their cartons or sharing plans about the upcoming summer vacation. While they savoured the last minutes of their lunch break playing and chatting together, the assigned student for the weekly lunch survey slowly approached her classroom’s door, a clipboard tucked in one arm and a pen with the other hand.

 _I’m almost done…_ Hinata hummed while reviewing the information she gathered from the other class. Clicking the tip of her pen against her chin, she paused in front of the door to mark the second to the last item on her checklist. _Done with the previous classroom!_ Her shoulders hitched up as she gladly smiled, feeling the accomplishment of today’s duty well in her. _Now, down to my own classroo—_

“Kiba-bakaa—aak!”

Hinata gasped, and as soon as she realized the flash of blond hair, her cheeks instantly flushed red, and the clipboard slipped from her arm and clattered on the floor.

“Oh, close call!” Naruto inched backwards with a sigh. He sharply looked behind him and shouted at Kiba and Shikamaru, “Hey, that’s dangerous, you know!” Cursing, he bent down to get the clipboard, holding it with one hand, the other hand scratching his nape. “Sorry about that, Hinata! I almost slammed unto you.” The whiskers on his cheeks crinkled up as he widely grinned at her.

Hinata was still staring up at him, her previous excitement now drained by nervousness. _I almost bumped against Naruto-kun!_

“Hinata?” The grin on his face was changed with wonder, and he blinked several times. “Are you okay?” He asked while inching his face closer to hers.

She took a few steps backwards, the heat crawling on her skin, and she had to remind herself about today’s task in order to manage the situation at hand. She hung her head low and nodded meekly. “Y-Yes, Naruto-kun.”

While he handed the clipboard to her, Naruto caught a glimpse what the paper on it was all about. “Amazing!” He clasped his hands behind his nape. “You’re the one doing the lunch survey today?”

Hinata took the clipboard from him, careful not to touch his hand. Slowly raising her head, she was greeted by Naruto’s infectious lively smile. The worries ebbed away from her head, but her heart still pounded fast. “Yes. I’m about to interview at least five in a class.”

“Well, well!” Naruto pinched his chin as he proudly answered. “You might as well start with the greatest of all!”

She raised an eyebrow and giggled, a hand daintily covering her curved lips. “A-alright! I’m going to start asking the questions now, Naruto-kun.” She brought out a tickler, and asked, “Did you like the food served in the cafeteria within this whole week?”

“Hmm,” Naruto was deep in thought. “I was only looking at ramen, and I mostly ate ramen, so! I guess I liked it!”

“Of course he only ordered ramen!” Kiba shouted from the other side of the room. Hinata’s shoulders tensed up, knowing that Kiba must be teasing her. “He’s ramen-headed after all!” He followed it up with a mean laugh.

“Shut up, Ki-baka!” Naruto shouted back at him.

“W-Well, well…” Hinata tried to get him back to her questions, afraid that Kiba might spill something that shouldn’t be spilt. “Were there anything that you found unsuitable to your taste?”

Naruto quickly turned back to her, and he hastily answered, “Fresh vegetables!”

Hinata tilted her head. “Eh? But Naruto-kun, eating vegetables is healthy, isn’t it?”

He pouted, “But it’s not as tasty as ramen!”

Knowing fully-well that Naruto likes ramen a lot, she thought that she should have known that this was the kind of response he was most likely to offer. She chuckled a tad more comfortably and said, “I see.” She smoothed down the page of the tickler and wrote her notes. She didn’t notice how she leveled her gaze on him while she fell on an easy conversation with him. “I understand, Naruto-kun. I don’t know what to do either whenever they put seafoods like crab and eel in the menu.” She smiled at him, sheepishly, then she checked on her next question.

“Heeh?” Naruto placed his hands on his hips and beamed. “I’m not alone, then!”

“Excuse me,” A few students politely passed by the door, and Hinata noted that they might be out of time.

“N-Now for the last questio—aah!” She pressed her palm against her cheek as the wind blew from the open window behind her. Strands of her hair flew at different directions, and she clumsily held her tickler, pen, and clipboard in one hand, the other hand futilely trying to keep her hair in one direction. The bell would ring in just a minute or two, and she shouldn’t be bothered by her messy hair. “U-um! Continuing to our final question—” the breeze blew again, and she sighed in defeat as a thick clump of messy hair awkwardly dangled between her eyebrows. “W-What are your suggestions for the improvement of our cafeteria’s menu?” She positioned herself to write on the tickler again, waiting for his answer.

Naruto scratched his head, only half-listening to Hinata’s question. He was watching how the strands of her hair dance on her head.

“Hmm?” She gazed at him for a while, noticing the wonder on his face. The wind blew again, and she squinted. “M-mou…” she heaved again, then she clicked the tip of the pen on her chin twice.

Naruto finally parted his lips and started talking. “I would really love it if there are more ramen flavors!” Again, he watched as her hair swayed with the breeze, and caught himself staring on her notes, and the way how she gingerly held her pen. “Like miso, shio…” His eyes wandered to her crown again, and he was, unawarely, tracing the lines of hair that dangled between her eyebrows, to the lashes of her half-opened eyes, to the way how she moved her mouth while she silently repeated his answers to write it down. “…karai, tonko…tsu…”

Wanting to see more of how she repeated what he was saying, he mindlessly lifted his hand as his fingers gently slid the hair to the side of her face, and before he knew it, he was already staring straight into her eyes, which were also innocently looking into his own.

Hinata held his gaze as he held hers, and they stood there unmovingly, until the bell rang.

Hinata blinked several times and it was only then that she fully comprehended the touch of his fingers on her hair, and her shoulders hitched. The comfort that she mustered from their previous talk was now back to zero. She wondered if he had seen the panic in her eyes and the way how her cheeks were painted scarlet, before she took a few steps backwards, bowed in front of him, and entered the room. She placed the clipboard on her desk, the tickler and pen in her drawer, and she balled her hands on her lap, her mind and heart rewinding what just happened and _why_ it even happened.

The realization of what he just did only struck him a few seconds late, and before he could apologize (for whatever reason he didn’t completely understand), he saw her sit on her desk, shoulders tucked in, and he was curious how her tangled hair was still a sight to behold. Wondering, he also went to his desk, sat down, and rested his chin in his palm, his eyes staring out at the blue sky.


	2. Training Session

Sweat trickled from the temples of Hinata’s forehead. Slowly, it trailed the slopes of her cheeks, and by the moment it met at the flat of her chin, she quickly charged forward, the Hyuuga stance keeping her arms affixed.

 _Fast, but not enough!_  Intercepting the assault, Neji dove to the left and drove his wrist against her right wrist, and as soon as he was able to deflect it, he circled his hand downwards and grasped the bottom part of her forearm in an attempt to render her immobile.

Hinata squinted as she grunted, but she was unperturbed. The right part of her body might be locked by him, but she swung her left leg to kick him. However, Neji also saw through this as he always did every time they sparred together, and he guarded his waist with his left hand, capturing her shin.

Gradually, Neji inhaled and heaved, and Hinata’s muscles relaxed as his grip loosened. He wiped away the sweat from his forehead, then watched as Hinata slowly backed away and sat on the tatami, her chest rising and falling while catching her breath.

“I’m sorry, Neji Nii-Sama. Even today, I…” Hinata drew her knees to her chest, and she tucked her chin on it.

Neji gazed at her for two good seconds before he closed his eyes and raised his chin. “No, Hinata-sama. You’re doing great so far.”

Hinata blinked, her eyes shot at him. She knew the difference between empty flattery and pure compliments, being the heir of their yakuza family. Whenever she talked with her cousin, she would only get the latter—only seldom, though, as what she usually had before were reprimands from him.

Seeing the surprise on her face, Neji smirked. “You seem a bit more energized today, Hinata-sama. Did something good happen?”

In an instant, her cheeks which were already flushed from the rigorous training turned a shade redder, and what happened a week ago when she was doing the classroom lunch survey played in her head. She averted her eyes from Neji, and without knowing that she was almost pouting, she said, “N-nothing much.”

Neji walked towards the dojo’s balcony and slid open the window, letting more summer breeze to enter the training room. He was the assigned “escort” for his cousin, and the job required him to always keep an eye on her. While it was true that he needed to know everything that’s happening to her, sometimes it doesn’t feel like a job at all. Reading his cousin like that, and sometimes prodding on her feelings, have become natural for him.

They had a massive difference when they were young, which led him to initially hate the main—her—family, but it was thanks to that gutsy classmate of hers that he knew a lot of things he refused to learn before.

It was also thanks to him that their clan’s heiress has started to exhibit a stronger resolve.

“If you say so.” Neji faced her and smiled, a spectacle that Hinata didn’t really see often. The knots in her gut uncurled, and she responded with a shy smile.

“HI-NA-TAAAA!”

The Hyuugas turned their heads where the house’s main gate might be. They took their towels and proceeded to the entrance, each of them carrying a tumbler in hand. Neji was the one to open the gate, and as soon as he saw the gutsy schoolmate he thought about just a few minutes ago, he suppressed the urge to direct his mirth at Hinata. Instead, he placed a hand on one hip, shifting his weight to his right foot. “What is it, Kiba?”

Kiba scowled at him and raised a clipboard. “This.” Tilting his head, he was able to catch a glimpse of Hinata, who seemed to have perfected camouflaging behind Neji and against the wall. “You left your weekend homework at school, Hinata!”

As soon as the word “homework” got in her ears, her worries were expelled for a moment and she stepped forward. “A-ah!”

“Yeah,” Shino nodded and continued, “You left it in the classroom. We were the assigned cleaners for today — Shikamaru. Naruto, Kiba, and I — and then—”

“Then I saw it while cleaning your desk!” Naruto clasped his hands behind his nape, his goofy grin plastered on his face. “Ah, here you go!” He hastily took his backpack, opened the zipper, and took the violet notebook.

Neji felt the meager tension on Hinata’s shoulders, and did not let a hint of amusement to be noticed.

Hinata reached for the notebook gently and clasped it against her chest. “T-thank you, Naruto-kun.”

“Seriously, though! I never thought that you also forget some items at times!” Naruto chuckled, and he instantly earned a glare from the three boys. He didn’t notice it, though, and he bent forward, a hand cupping his mouth. “It’s gonna be a real trouble if you leave your weekend homework at school, hey! Iruka-sensei really gets mad, he’ll tell you to GO OUTSIDE AND STAND AT THE HALLWAY! Like that!”

As he straightened up, Kiba punched him on his head. “Stupid! Only you gets that kind of punishment!”

“Like it doesn’t happen to you!” Naruto yelled back at Kiba, and they glared daggers at each other.

The nervousness receded, and Hinata stifled a giggle. “T-Thank you again, everyone.”

Naruto and Kiba stopped barking at each other, and they nodded at Hinata. Naruto chuckled again and said, “Anytime!”

Hinata nodded back, and she smiled, “Y-Yeah…”

Neji watched the scene in front of him with overly observant eyes: he caught the way how Naruto’s mouth formed a small “o” as his eyes found Hinata’s, and Neji knew that Hinata wasn’t the one who would be able to avert her eyes right away. Hinata blinked several times to snap herself from what just transpired, the tips of her eyelashes brushing her deep red cheeks. Her ears also turned red, and Neji saw how Naruto noticed it, too, and how the blond gulped.

Hinata quickly bowed and said, “T-Thank you for today! I’ll be going inside now.” And with that, she was gone.

“W-What’s with her?” Naruto tried to regain his composure, and he crossed his arms against his chest. “Did I do something wrong? She’s always like that around me.”

Neji, Kiba, and Shino looked at him helplessly.

He’s really stupid, Neji thought.

“If ever there’s a reason why, it won’t get through that thick skull of yours.” Kiba sneered as he unceremoniously knocked Naruto’s forehead.

Naruto gritted his teeth. “What the—?!”

“Neji, we’re going now.” Shino said his regards, and when Neji nodded at him, he hauled the other two on their way to the exit of the Hyuuga compound.

Neji sighed, and as he wondered what exactly their yakuza clan’s heiress saw in that knucklehead, a smile painted his lips while he followed Hinata’s tracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I checked the age group for Chuugakkou students in Japan, it’s comprised of 12-15 y/o students. In these series (lol what), everyone’s age is around their Genin years, but I decided to keep Hinata’s hair reaaally loong because *reasons*. Haha! I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
